Startup Founders are much like your family members

What made me a founder? I didn't go to business school, I'm not exactly living in an ideal situation for building a business right now. As a matter of fact, let me describe to you what's going on at this very moment. 

As I write this, I sit on a sofa-bed at my mother-in-law's, whom I'm visiting for a couple of days. To my right, my almost 3-year-old lies with his Batman jammies and the last pacifier we have around the house in his mouth. 

For months now, I've been trying to get him off of it, and I told him I'm not buying any other and once this one is lost, that's it. And so, as soon as this smarty-pants wakes up, he carefully puts it away to make sure it doesn't get lost. Why don't I get rid of it? Because, honestly, I value the little sleep I get, and I'm putting off having to deal with a frustrated toddler overnight.

To my left, my 7-year-old and my 4-year-old are sharing a full mattress on the floor. My 4-year-old recently had surgery to remove a benign tumor in his shoulder. 

He actually started to like the visible bump on his shoulder after a while, and even named it "Max". On the day of the surgery, he delighted the nurses by explaining with his cute accent that today the doctor "is taking Max out of me". 

After the procedure, the surgeon said he can't go to the pool, take baths, or practice sports for a couple of weeks. This pretty much left him unable of doing everything we do during the summer in sunny Florida. 

And so, this was the reason why I packed a couple of backpacks, put the three kids in the car, and decided to take a last-minute road trip to grandma's house in Massachusetts by myself. 

This, of course, just added to the list of reasons everybody thinks I'm crazy. My husband had to stay home working, because, well, bills have to be paid and he's always been this awesome provider that makes sacrifices for the family on a daily basis. 

So here I am, 7 days into this trip, happy I actually did it, despite having kept my own parents restless during the days I was driving up North.

They're the kind that loves and cares no matter how old are their kids. But now all is good and I'm reaping a couple of free hours a day thanks to a grandmother who misses her babies and insists on me getting some hours for myself. See? It was a genius move actually.

Talking about genius, my 7-year-old, who's about to start third grade is considered by many around us as a genius-boy. With his amazing memory and intuition, he comes up with so many elaborate questions, it's hard to keep up with it.

And I'm thankful for the opportunity of nurturing his talents and being able to advance him through grades at his own pace by homeschooling. But he went to bed early today because tomorrow is a big day. My mother-in-law, who is an Elementary school teacher, will take him along to her school tomorrow, and he couldn't be more excited.

For a homeschool kid, the traditional school setting is fascinating and he can't wait to just sit at a cafeteria and eat Lunchables. His clothes are already neatly put away and he set the alarm for 6:30 am tomorrow. He's a genius but many times he talks and talks about his desire to be mainstream.

And that leads me to the complicated makings of a founder. A founder in many ways is a person who embodies all of what I just described. 

He's is a toddler who stubbornly won't give up on his pacifier. He's like a worried parent that won't rest until he knows their child is safe and sound. He's a 4-year-old who'll look at bumps with good humor and even names them. He's like a husband who'll provide for his family no matter what it takes. 

He's a mom who'll do anything to give her kids a good time despite the limitations, even if it takes driving through all the East Coast just to see grandma. He's also the mom who gladly delegates the kids care to grandma so she can get some time for herself. 

He's the genius boy with the brilliant idea who doesn't think too much of himself, yet wants to be around everybody and uses his talents to benefit everybody. In other words, he's stubborn, relentless, caring, creative, courageous, knows when to delegate, and above all empathetic.

He's like your mom, your dad, your kids, your in-laws. He's human, and that's exactly what's going to make him/her successful. 

(more to follow…!)

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In my spare time (meaning, on the time I was supposed to be sleeping), I started writing about my experience of founding a startup while juggling motherhood. Instead of publishing a book, I decided to post it here. I hope it helps you realize you can do it too. The world needs great ideas executed by efficient multi-taskers, aka moms!